The following invention relates to an earring and, in particular, to an earring that supports selectively interchangeable ornaments.
Jewelry is typically selected by a wearer according to a particular mood, fashion choice and occasion. Because jewelry is often costly, however, the wearer may only have a limited number of jewelry items from which to choose. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a single jewelry item that can be easily adapted by the wearer to be suitable for different situations.
With respect to earrings, prior art designs exist for selectively adapting an earring by attaching different ornaments to the earring. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,852, issued to Waldron, discloses an earring comprising a loop member that is attachable to an ear. The loop member has a narrow throat that allows a link of a charm to be pulled therethrough to attach the charm to the earring. In this way, the wearer can selectively attach a particular charm to the earring as desired.
Although Waldron allows the wearer to attach different charms to the earring as desired, Waldron, however, requires the use of an earring that contains a loop for receiving the charm. This limitation precludes the use of Waldron with earring designs that do not include a loop.
Another prior art earring design that supports interchangeable ornaments is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,061 issued to Fleury. Fleury teaches a jewelry apparatus, such as an earring, that includes a body portion having an ornamental outer surface and an engagement surface, and further includes an ornament portion having an ornamental outer surface and an engagement surface. The engagement surface of the body portion includes a cylindrical recess and a bore which extends axially inwardly from the center of the cylindrical recess. The engagement surface of the ornament portion includes a cylindrical neck and a post which extends axially outwardly therefrom. The cylindrical neck and post of the ornament portion are slideably received in frictional, interfitting engagement into the complimentary recess and bore of the body portion. When the body portion and ornament portion are received in engagement, the ornamental surface thereof cooperatively merge so that the body portion and the ornament portion appear as an integral unit.
Although the mechanism taught in Fleury is not limited to earrings designs that contain a loop, Fleury does requires that the earring body include a cylindrical recess and a bore for receiving the ornament which is not feasible for a variety of earring designs, such as stud earrings. Furthermore, because Fleury requires that the ornament be specially designed to have a cylindrical neck and post to mate with the earring body, existing ornaments that a wearer may have for use with a bracelet or necklace are not suitable for use with the earring of Fleury.
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a prior art stud earring 2. Stud earring 2 includes a stone 4, such as a diamond, that is held by a basket 6. Basket 6 typically includes a pair of parallel circular members 8,8xe2x80x2 and a plurality of prongs 10 that are fastened to both of circular members 8,8xe2x80x2 in a perpendicular orientation. Stone 4 is inserted into basket 6 and supported by circular member 8. The top of each of prongs 10 is curved for gripping stone 4 and securing stone 4 in basket 6. Attached across the diameter of circular member 8xe2x80x2 is a radial member 12. A post 14 is perpendicularly attached to radial member 12 at a first end and is dimensioned and shaped at a second end for attaching to a wearer""s ear.
Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown an ornament 16 that is selectively attached to stud earring 2. Ornament 16 includes a decorative portion 18 and a loop member 20 connected to ornament 16. Loop member 20 is dimensioned and shaped so as to be slideably received on post 14. Thus, when the wearer desires to attach an ornament to earring 2, the wearer inserts post 14 into loop member 20 and slides ornament 16 until it is adjacent to circular member 8xe2x80x2. If the wearer desires to have a different ornament attached to earring 2, the wearer slides ornament 16 off post 14 and slides the different ornament on post 14 instead. In this way, earring 2 of the prior can be used to selectively attach ornaments.
There are significant drawbacks, however, in attaching ornament 16 to earring 2 of the prior art in the manner described above. First, because post 14 terminates at the center of circular member 8xe2x80x2, when ornament 16 is positioned on post 14 via loop member 20, a portion of decorative portion 18 may be obscured by basket 6. In addition, because ornament 16 can only be slid on post 14 until it contacts circular member 8xe2x80x2 of basket 6, ornament 16 is not coplanar with stone 4 thereby diminishing the appearance of the earring-ornament combination. Furthermore, because ornament 16 may contact the wearer""s ear when post 14 is affixed to the wearer""s ear, attaching ornament 16 to earring 2 in this manner may cause the wearer discomfort.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an earring that allows the wearer to selectively interchange ornaments while overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art.
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art. According to the present invention, an earring is provided and includes a basket for holding a decorative item wherein the basket includes a circular member having a center. Also included is a curved member having a first end and a second end wherein the first end of the curved member is connected to the circular member. A post is included and has a first end and a second end. The first end of the post is affixed to a wearer""s ear and the second end of the post is connected to the second end of the curved member. The curved member is dimensioned and shaped so that the post is axially aligned with the center of the circular member. An ornament having a loop member is dimensioned to slideably receive the post and the curved member. When the post is inserted through the loop member, the ornament is suspended from the curved member adjacent the circular member and is coplanar with the decorative item contained in the basket.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description, the drawings and the claims.